When Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in November, they could thank dozens of conservative “dark money” nonprofit groups for spending nearly $130 million to boost their preferred candidates or bash their political enemies. Those nonprofit groups, including many that enjoy a preferred tax status because they purport to be focused on “social welfare,”…

After years of controversy and concerns for election integrity, electronic voting machines may finally be relegated to the ranks of a costly and failed experiment. States have abandoned electronic voting machines in droves, and most voters — in fact, nearly 70% — will be casting their ballots by hand this election day. Although once viewed…

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered a lower court to block two new voting restrictions in North Carolina, saying there was “no doubt” the measures would disenfranchise minorities. North Carolina will now be required to reinstate same-day voter registration, as well as allow voters to cast ballots even if they show up…

A $10 million donation seems like a hefty amount of cash for the average political donor. But for casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 million over the course of the 2012 election, his latest donation is the least he can do. Politico first reported Thursday that Adelson, whose net…

Voting rights advocates in North Carolina caught a lucky break on Thursday, where it was revealed that the panel of three judges who would consider that state’s comprehensive voter suppression law included one Clinton appointee, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, and two Obama appointees, Judges James Wynn and Henry Floyd. Last month, a George W. Bush…

On the evening of September 8, 2014, the US Senate voted 78-18 in favor of proceeding with a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision. Earlier that afternoon, the lead sponsors of the bill in the House and Senate held a press conference outside the Capitol. VR’s cameras were there…

Karl Rove is going to have to sit in the back seat on this FEC lawsuit, whether he likes it or not. Awhile back I wrote about the lawsuit Public Citizen and ProtectOurElections.org filed against the FEC for failing to do what it’s supposed to do when it comes to these SuperPACs. In essence, the FEC agreed not to…

Public Citizen and Protect Our Elections are taking aim at the FEC for dropping the ball on Rove’s failure to disclose donors. Earlier this year, FEC Commissioner Ann Ravel was so frustrated by the partisanship within the panel that she took to the op-ed pages of the New York Times to shake her fist at the way her Republican…

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Department of Justice today intervened in the ACLU of Wisconsin voting rights case, filing an amicus brief in opposition to the voter ID law. The case is currently at the 7thCircuit Court of Appeals. The 37-page brief said, in part: Regarding the “constitutional claim, the district court credited plaintiffs’ evidence demonstrating that, under…